Sebastian Zorenov
'Early Life' Sebastian Zorenov was born in the House of Pearls, a brothel in the Docksides District of Silver City . His father, Zoren Tabarkin, was a Vasciansailor, and his biological mother's identity remains unknown. As is the practice among the ladies of The Pearl, children were raised collectively. Sebastian has been heard to remark, "I never had a mother, but always plenty of aunts." For the first part of his life, Sebastian worked at the brothel, alongside his "cousins", other illegitimate children of the ladies. He was taught simple maths and sums, learned to fight and lift coins from stingy guests. As he grew in height and breadth, he learned to enforce the rules of The House when needed. At the age of 13, Sebastian had to choose whether to stay employed at The House of Pearls as a eunuch, or make his own way in the world. Though he loved his "family", the choice was not a difficult one. 'Career as a Sailor' Throughout his teenage years, Sebastian served on the Trade Guild Vessel, "The Red Lady", under Captain Pristus, a fair but hardened Ko captain. During this time, he served as a bilge rat and an apprentice helmsman, and successfully navigated both The Spine and The Blackwater Trade Route, as well as making his first transcontinental voyage. During Sebastian's middle teens, his father was promoted from bosun to first mate aboard a trade guild ship, an almost unheard of honor for a Vascian. His father celebrated by giving his son his old bosun's whip, a symbol of office and functional tool. Sebastian later learned his father only served as first mate for two years; his ship was beset by pirates, and the Ko captain and purser escaped in the only longboat, leaving everyone else to their demise. This event helped cement Sebastian's bitter distrust of Ko, especially the entitled nobility and Merchant Princes. 'Shaman Training' In his early twenties, he was involved in a bloody bar brawl in Copper City between some locals and his fellow shipmates on leave. Sebastian killed a verbally abusive Ko bystander and was arrested. A short time later, he was sent to the work camp when it was revealed his Ko victim was a senior accountant of one of the local Merchant houses. In the labor camp, Sebastian met a fire shaman named Kalim Mos Vantare, who realized Sebastian was a latent wind shaman and helped teach him how to harness his natural abilites. Just before the end of Sebastian's term of incarceration, Mos Vantare gave him his first Balai, a sacred bag for storing relics. As is custom between mentors and apprentices, Mos Vantare made the bag himself especially for Sebastian, using his own shirt sleeve for want of resources. Branding on "The Silver Courser" After regaining his freedom, Sebastian signed on with "The Silver Courser" another Trade Guild Vessel. He first served under Captain Vallos, an honorable and capable man. Midway through a voyage, however, Captain Vallos developed a brain fever and died, passing control of the ship to Captain Doran, the son of the merchant who owned the vessel. Captain Doran, who styled himself "Steelgaze", was merciless and petty, switching out the former Ko officers with new, brutal thugs who kept the Vascian crew in line through beatings and deprivation. When Captain Doran decided to halve rations among the men to pad his coffers and impress his father, Sebastian included himself in a small group of sailors who began stealing from the larder. Eventually, one of their number was caught, tortured and executed, but refused to name his conspirators. Unable to execute everyone for need of a crew to bring him to port, Captain Doran instead marked every man's wrist with a white hot coin, scarring them as thieves against the Guild and ensuring no reputable Trade Guild Vessel would hire them on again. Mercenary Life Sebastian drifted from odd job to odd job, eventually finding his way back to Silver City. He was unemployed and playing music for bed and board at The Maiden's Tit , a popular Vascian sailor's bar in the Docksides, only a few blocks from The House of Pearls. It was there he met the northern Elf Andris Vallus and the honorable Ko-Sai , Loric Talarius . With his new compatriots, including the goblin thief Dolphus, Druid Liriel and Dargothian swordsman Pyrrhus, Sebastian helped defend the Docksides against an uprising of undead and ghouls. When the machinations of the crime lord Luthien Crask led to the downfall and dishonor of his friend, Loric, he left Silver City, vowing to return one day. He is currently traveling with his new-found family, hoping to eventually restore Loric to his rightful and well-deserved honor. Trivia *While not devoutly religious, he is exceptionally superstitious. For example, he wears bracers with a gold coin stitched to each wrist... even if flat broke, he would never think of spending them. They are, "for the ferryman," and will pay his passage from this world to the next. *He prefers to stay close to water; the idea of crossing endless plains, or vast and arid deserts is very discomforting to him. Likewise, he has an innate distrust of any domesticated beasts larger than a donkey. *He subconsciously detests silences. Will often whistle, hum or sing quietly to himself in the absence of conversation. *At times, he is a moderately gifted mandolin player and rousing showman. At other times, he's got ten thumbs and none of them work. *Arms, torso and back are decorated with over a dozen tattoos, each one specific to a milestone in his life. This is an extremely common practice among Vascian sailors, who proudly and silently carry their exploits with them. [[Characters|'Back to "Characters"']]